What causes "Novita API Key must be provided to use agents." in Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm?

Create a key at https://novita.ai (dashboard > API Keys) and set NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY in .env.

Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

Novita API Key must be provided to use agents.

Error message

Novita API Key must be provided to use agents.

What it means

Thrown by AgentHandler.checkSetup() (server/utils/agents/index.js:226) when the workspace agent provider is 'novita' but NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY is unset/empty. Novita AI hosts open-source models behind this key, which is the only credential validated here.

Source

Thrown at server/utils/agents/index.js:227

          throw new Error(
            "LiteLLM API base path and key must be provided to use agents."
          );
        break;
      case "apipie":
        if (!process.env.APIPIE_LLM_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("ApiPie API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "xai":
        if (!process.env.XAI_LLM_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("xAI API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "zai":
        if (!process.env.ZAI_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Z.AI API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "novita":
        if (!process.env.NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Novita API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "nvidia-nim":
        if (!process.env.NVIDIA_NIM_LLM_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error(
            "NVIDIA NIM base path must be provided to use agents."
          );
        break;
      case "ppio":
        if (!process.env.PPIO_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("PPIO API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "gemini":
        if (!process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Gemini API key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "moonshotai":
        if (!process.env.MOONSHOT_AI_MODEL_PREF)
          throw new Error("Moonshot AI model must be set to use agents.");

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

Create a key at https://novita.ai (dashboard > API Keys) and set NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY in .env.
Restart AnythingLLM to reload process.env.
Validate with curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer $NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY' https://api.novita.ai/v3/openai/models.
Confirm the agent model is a Novita-supported model id.

Example fix

// before (.env)
// NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY=

// after (.env)
NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY=...your-novita-key

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const key = process.env.NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY;
if (!key) {
  throw new Error(
    'Cannot start Novita agent: set NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY (from novita.ai dashboard) in .env.'
  );
}

Try / catch

try {
  await agentHandler.start();
} catch (e) {
  if (/Novita API Key must be provided/.test(e.message)) {
    return respondConfigError('novita', ['NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY']);
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Create the key in the Novita dashboard and paste it into .env in one step.
Restart AnythingLLM so process.env reloads.
Add a startup provider->env-var validator.
Keep .env out of version control; rotate keys periodically.

When it happens

Trigger: An agent invocation runs with workspace.agentProvider === 'novita' while NOVITA_LLM_API_KEY is absent from process.env. Path: #providerSetupAndCheck() -> checkSetup() at index.js:476.

Common situations: Novita selected in System > LLM Preference without a key; key from novita.ai not added to .env; .env edited but the server not restarted; key revoked.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/808ba66b20c0318a. Report an issue: GitHub.